Young Justice Twins
by Adwen Indigo
Summary: Wally has found out about his twin sister who was kidnapped at birth. Evidence from long ago points to the fact that she's dead. Wally won't give up till he's certain. But smoky trails won't last forever.. And with the aliens being on earth... Artemis under cover...Wally is torn in several ways, but we know there's more to the ending... (T for mild blood loss-pain; no bad language)
1. New Year

Young Justice; Season 1/ Final Episode (of season 1 not the final-final episode)

The mind control chips in the Justice League members were taken care of and the whole Young Justice crew gathered on deck. Just then, the computer announced, "Happy New Year, Justice League," then played a little tune.

Wally looked over at Artemis _Hey, why not? It's tradition_! He swiftly sweeped her off her feet and, as he felt her body in his arms, he blurted out a confession, "Oh, I should have done this a looong time ago."

Artemis relaxed and said, "No, kidding." She leaned against his shoulder as he leaned over. Then, their lips pressed together. _I can't believe I used to hate him..._

Miss Martian and Superboy smiled at the fact that Wally actually said an absolute truth, and followed suit. Zatanna suddenly grabbed Robin and pulled him into a kiss; he was surprised, pleasantly, of course. (Pft, and Robin claims to be ready for anything.)Robin rapped his arms around her, apparently deciding to enjoy himself. Rocket stepped brashly toward Aqulad, "I'm liking this team more every day," and kissed him. Aqualad, too, was surprised- too surprised to do anything but stare blankly at her.

Red Tornado, still lying on the floor stated, "Human customs still illude me."

~~~~ Next Day (Not next morning; staying up so late they slept through morning.)~~~~~ 

The Young Justice team met up at Mount Justice to celebrate a Victory/New Year party. Everyone was there. Well, everyone but-

Wally zoomed in, "Why is it I'm always late?" That statement got laughter from the rest of the crew. Then, Wally spotted the boxes of pizza on the counter, "Cool, Pizza!" And he ate up all five boxes- except for the cardboard.

Artemis stood up and stared at him round eyed, "Wally! What about the rest of us?"

M'gann leaned over and whispered to Artemis, "I hid five more boxes in the cabinet on the left... I had a feeling something like this was going to happen," and they giggled; Artemis sat back down on the couch.

Artemis said bemusedly, "I guess I'm going to have to learn how to cook," and a dismal look lighted upon her face.

"Oh, don't worry, Artemis! He'll eat anything! One time Wally ate my burnt cookies!" They laughed outrightly.

Wally leaned over the back of the couch with pizza stuffed in his mouth and mumbled through bits of pepperoni, "Did I hear someone say my name?"

"Yeah, we were in debate about if your mouth is bigger than your stomach," Artemis smiled in a teasing way to take away any sting to her words. Artemis and M'gann shared a look of amusement and M'gann got up walking over to Connor

"No way, Babe. It's neither. See, my heart is bigger than both of them," his hand protruded an unbitten piece of pizza, "I saved this for you," and his sloppy grin slid up his face.

Artemis accepted it, "Wow, I guess you really do love me!" and she took a bite, looking into his green eyes.

Wally said, "Yeah, I kinda have that feeling right now," He held his hand over his heart and feigned a pained look, "Ow! It feels like it's gonna last forever!"

Artemis copied his aching look, "Ouch! I feel it, too!" She gave him a fake icy stare, "What'd you do to me?"

Within a second, Wally was sitting next to her; his arm draped over her shoulders, "I stole your heart- but you've got mine. So that makes us even."

He kissed her on the nose. She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Batman's face appeared on the big computer screen. Wally sat up straight, "Yes! Another mission!"

Batman let a small (very teeny) smile light upon his face, "Actually, no. The Justice League has decided that you should all just take the day off. Mainly, because there's nothing to take care of. Enjoy yourselves," he ordered and then the screen went black.

A cheer rose up within the teenagers. Wally looked down at the beautiful girl beside him, "We have all day to-" just then his cell rang, "Oops," it rang again.

"Take it," Artemis offered.

"Thanks. Sorry," he grimaced, but then he looked at who had called, "It's Mom- Hi, Mom! Why'd you call?" Wally became a little worried _Is something wrong? If Dad-_

"Everything's fine. I just wanted to remind you that you said you'd help me clean out the attic when you were available," She laughed, "You said that last month," Wally could read between his mother's words " _But don't come when your father is around._ "

"Oh, yeah, that's right! Just a sec," Wally covered the speaker with his hand, "Artemis, I promised my mom I'd help her clean out the attic,"He rolled his eyes, "What fun, right? But I'm gonna hafta do that."

"Oh, sure," Artemis said, disappointed, "But it's great that you keep your promises."

Wally's smile slid upward again, "Thanks, Babe!" He spoke back to the cell, "Mom, I **just** now got told I didn't have to do any superhero stuff to do today- and I forgot about the attic thing completely. How do you do that? You should have Uncle Barry check on you to see if you have any superpowers- seriously!"

His mother's laughter rang through the phone, "It's an all-mothers-can-do-that. Y'know like the-eyes-in-the-back-of the-head thing?"

Wally laughed back, "Gotcha. Is right now a good time to come over?"

"Yes."

"See you in about two minutes or less!" he hung up and turned to Artemis, "See ya later, Babe," he leaned over and gave her a kiss, and she kissed him back, "Later, Wally. It won't take too long, right? With your speed and all."

"It's an attic, Hot Stuff. Scientists have tried to come up with a way to reduce attic clutter, but -see- the clutter of box's micro-organisms keep reproducing," he laughed at his own joke, "I promise not to take all day, though."

Artemis laughed, "Thanks."

Just then, Conner walked by- eating a slice of pizza. Wally stared at him, "Hey, where'd that come from?"

Artemis started pushing Wally towards the tranporter, "It's the one you dropped on the floor. You'd better go; your mom's waiting for you!"

Wally gave her a suspicious glance, "Right." and he zoomed through the tubular portal.

Robin said, "Thanks, Artemis! You just saved the rest of the pizza!"

"Your Welcome."


	2. Uncovering the Attic

Flash went back home to Central City via the teleport. Now out on the sidewalk, Flash (or Wally West now) stretched his arms upward; it was good to be home. He walked along until he got to his mother's house. He went around to the back to use the back-door. He rushed behind his mom, and put his hands over her eyes, "Guess who?" Wally said in a ridiculous cartoony voice.

"Well, let me see. I know you couldn't be Wally, could you?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then you must be Bugs Bunny, right?"

"No, but close enough!" his voice had returned to normal, "Hey, Mom."

She turned around to give him a hug, "What're you doin' here?"

"Is today a good day to clean out the attic?"

"Come to think of it, it is! Do you want to get started now?"

"Yeah, but could I eat something first?"

"That appetite of yours! Make yourself a sandwich; you can do it a lot faster than I can. I'm heading on up," Wally nodded; he made himself 4 dozen sandwiches, put them on a big tray, and carried them up to the attic. Wally ate 5 of them on the way up and still beat his mom to the ladder.  
They began digging through boxes, reminiscing over junk, and trying to decide what to throw away (and Wally ate sandwiches while he looked). He came upon a box with some of his old baby toys. He found an envelope addressed to his parents with newspaper letters pasted all over the front; there was no return address. It had apparently already been opened, so Wally decided that it wouldn't hurt to read it. He opened it up to reveal more news-clipped lettering.

It read: "Mr. & Mrs. West, we have your daughter. If you give us $2000, we will return her to you. Use unmarked bills. This Saturday, place the money behind a lose brick on the east side of the Vaccaro's Bar. If you notify the police, or do not give us the money this Saturday- she will DIE." The date in the corner was 17 years ago.

"Mom, what's this?" Wally held up the incriminating note.

"Um, that was just a prank note. That's all," she shrugged her shoulders and returned to her box.

At lightning speed, Wally picked up another piece of paper, and with a glance he could see that it was a birth certificate for a girl. Her name was Willow Trudy West; the date was the same as his birth date. _I have a twin._ _.._ A wave of anger flooded over his face: "And I suppose this is a forgery?" His statement was well laced with sarcasm, while he held up the telltale document.

She lowered her head and didn't say anything. Wally exhaled and used a gentler tone, "Why didn't you and Dad tell me?"

His mother sniffed, and sighed, "There was so much to tell, but all of it would only leave you feeling... empty. She was kidnapped while she was still at the hospital. So shortly after she was born... After you were born. We put it off when you were older because we didn't want to have you anxious and upset."

"What did y'all do?"

"When we got back home a few weeks later, that ransom note arrived. We were so worried, but there was really only way to ensure we got our baby back; why trust criminals with your baby's life? We told the police. Everything turned out pretty well- at first. They waited for the kidnappers to pick up the money, and then the police ambushed these two men, but then one of them got away and told the rest what had happened. Later, the police found out that it was a small- but organized- gang. They had left our baby in the care of a shady family by the name of Gargo. Once the gang found out the jig was up they went to the Gargo's house to- to kill them. There were no signs of any bodies- but the place didn't look pretty," she paused a moment; there was such emotional pain twisted on her face. Wally gave her a hug. She continued, "After it was all over, we still decided that it was not a good idea to tell you; it would have just caused you pain and grief. Besides you were only a newborn yourself when it happened."

Flash looked up thoughtfully, "But there weren't any bodies found?"

"That's right."

Wally stood up, "I'm going to find her!," he turned to go down the ladder.

"But, Wally, she's... dead. And what about the attic?"

"Well, we got a lot done; we could finish it up another time, right?"

His Mom smiled, "Right, but take that empty tray back down with you!"

"Right!" grabbing up the tray he skyrocketed down to the kitchen, set it in the sink, and out the door. He did slow down to a normal pace once he was in plain view.

Mrs. West looked out the window. _Maybe my little girl is still alive… And maybe Wally can find her._


	3. Nowhere to Start

Wally arrived back at headquarters- just in time for dinner. "Hey, Peeps! Wa's up?"

Superboy looked up from where he was sitting, "M'gann's trying to get everybody to play a _boardgame_." Confusion and doubt was darkening his face.

"Huh." Wally stated blandly, he was staring at the computer. Maybe he could use that to help him look up info. But what info? What would he need to look for?

 _SNAP! SNAP!_ "Earth to Wally!" Artemis said in good-humor. "We asked if you wanted to play Banangrams."

Wally broke out of his reverie, "Nothin'!"

"What?" she was completely uncertain what he meant by nothing, "Does that mean no?"

"What?"

"Does that mean no?"

"No, Yes, er... maybe?"

Artemis punched shoulder, "You're not listening to anything I'm saying!"

Wally flinched, "Sorry, Bae. Uuh, just being my normal, annoying self."

"I love you and all, but you could listen y'know." She rolled her eyes and turned around to join the game.

Wally watched her step away, _"_ _I love you and all..."_ her words echoed in his head. Suddenly, he wrapped her up, hugging her from behind. "I love you, too." He kissed her on the cheek.

And just as suddenly he was gone. Artemis swung around, lifting her hand to the recently kissed piece of skin. He was in the kitchen, grabbing up food; he winked at her. Artemis crossed her arms and smiled, "I guess you won't play then?"

"That's right; it would be just so unfair to everyone else, anyway." Wally feigned a look of chivalry.

Artemis smirked, "Sure." and she returned to her friends gathered in a circle on the floor. Wally smiled and took his food outside to eat by himself.

But pretty soon Robin entered the scene- with his own piece of pot-pie. "This is _mine_." he warned while he seated himself next to Wally. "So what's going on?" he said softly.

Wally peered at him, "Whadya mean?"

Robin stared him in the eye, "You know exactly what I mean."

Wally looked away and mumbled, "I have a twin."

Robin slapped his forehead, "Oh, great! There's two of you." he chuckled.

"Don't talk about her like that!" he glared at Robin, "I don't even know if she's actually still alive." He looked away, off at the horizon- chewing his food very slowly and gritting his teeth every time his jaw came down.

Robin touched his shoulder, "Sorry." a short slience. "What are you gonna do?"

"I'll find her."

"I thought you just said she could be dead..."

"I'll find her." Wally was incredibly serious.

"What's her name? And how will you go about finding her?"

"Willow. And I dunno... where to start."

Robin sighed; Wally was _not_ a detective, at all. "Alright, short and sweet. How'd she go missing? What happened?"

"She was kidnapped right outta the hospital, there was a ransom note, police got involved, things got messed up, and she went _poof!_ "

"That's actually a really good start."

Wally snapped to sitting up straight, "Whaddya mean? That's a thin smoky trail if I ever saw one."

"You haven't"

"Whatever."

"Key words, Wally, key words. Hospital. Police. There are records and case files. That will tell you where to go from there."

"Thanks, Robin... I don't know what this search will lead me through- but, hopefully, Willow will be at the end. Alive."


	4. Research

Wally sat at one of the computers- away from everybody. He let out a whoosh of air; it was hard absorbing this new fact. A sister. He had a sister. _Alright! Let's start!_

His hands hovered over the keyboard, then a sudden realization came over him. _What if she's happy where she is? What if I mess up her entire world? Would I make her life more complicated and troublesome? What if..._ an emotional pain gripped him within. Curiosity and loyalty fought inside him. _NO! I have to know if she's okay; I have to know that. I have that right._

Wally began typing furiously, trying to hack into the police database. _People say that twins have some kind of connection. I wonder if that's why I sometimes have emotions I don't understand._

"Yeah!" He succeeded- he typed some more and found the casefile he was looking for.

It was incredibly long, but- in short- it said that Willow West, newborn, was kidnapped from the hospital. His parents tipped off the police and then two officers went undercover to grab the Pick-Up-The-Money-Guy. Unfortunately, there were two of them and the cops weren't prepared for that; one got away... _Bleh, this is stuff my mom told me! Where's the stuff I want?!_ The remaining criminal was interrogated right away. He was part of a small, organized gang called the Gargo Gang. Their racket? Kidnapping babies and ransoming them back for pretty cheap money (as far as ransoms go anyway). Apparently, using a cheaper "price" gave them a bigger "clientele" that included middle and sometimes lower class people, who could more easily pay the ransom with no problem. _Well, if THAT isn't disturbing.._. The police got an armed force to- very carefully- raid the hideout. But the gang was already gone. Looking for any leftover evidence, they found a list of names with addresses. This is where the babies were kept. _Now this is getting good!_ The police went to every single home. Most babies were found, and the people living there were put under arrest. Other times, there was a massacre of bodies found. Including Willow's hiding place. There were pictures. Wally winced "Yup, definitely not pretty-"

"Hey, Wally..." Artemis stepped into the room, and Wally quickly minimized his windows. "Why you hiding back here?"

"No reason. Just wanted to be alone." _Gosh, why am I lying?_

"That doesn't sound like you; you're a people-person."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. Wally shrugged.

"You said something about being pretty when I walked in here..." She looked over Wally's shoulder at the blank screen, "And you used your speed as soon as you heard me..."

"No, no, no- Baby. I said 'Yup, definately not pretty.'" Wally gave his most condescending smile.

Artemis crossed her arms, "Ah-huh."

"But I wasn't talking about a girl!"

"Ah-huh." She didn't move.

Wally started picking at the chair's armrest. "C'mon, Artemis." Wally stood up, taking a step (in normal speed) towards her.

She took a step back. That hurt so much but Wally forced himself to smile again, "You don't have to step away from me; I could pick you up and carry you miles away before you could blink."

"Just tell me."

Wally slumped, "Heck, I don't even know why I didn't tell you right off..." He felt a lump in his throat; he swallowed it down. Two new things in his life: his girlfriend and his twin sister. He never had one and he was about to lose the other. He shoved his hands in his pockets and bit his lip. It seemed that all his emotions were the tumbleweed being blown relentlessly by the wind.

"I- I..." his voice broke. _I am NOT going to cry!_

"Wally..." Artemis's voice became softer, "What is it?

 _Deep breath_. "I have a twin sister. I found out today. She's probably dead." his voice dropped to a husky tone and his sentences were short and clipped. Admitting her possible death made him realize how overly optimistic he was being. Especially after looking at those bloody pictures. He turned away from Artemis.

She grabbed his arm, "Wally, what? Is she? I don't understand."

Wally sighed. He felt like his life was on rewind-repeat as this story kept being retold. This heart-breaking story that was intertwined with his, but he never had the chance... he told her everything. He sat at the computer, she sat in his lap, and he showed her how far he'd gotten- not far at all.

After it was all done, Artemis looked him in the eyes, "Thanks for spilling." She kissed him on the cheek, "You can tell me anything, alright?"

"I know. I guess I - it was all just new to myself; I was sorting through my own feelings."

"Okay." She grinned.

"Okay." He squeezed her shoulders with one arm, and started rubbing her back with the other. He very slowly leaned in to kiss her, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and she started raking her finger through his hair. 


	5. Slowly Rolling

A few moments later, they leaned away from each other, "Now **that** was a kiss!" Wally teased.

Artemis chuckled, "Do you want another one?" Then she turned to look at the computer screen, "But you should probably finish your research..."

He sighed. Then there was a glint in his eye. "Yeah, shame on you. Distracting me like that. I was actually being responsible for once..."

Artemis (gently) shoved her hand in his face. There was a hint of laughter in her voice as she said: "Right, I'd better leave." She hopped up out of his lap.

Wally grabbed her wrist, "Y'know I was teasing!" he looked up at her warmly.

She ruffled his hair, "And you know that's what I was doing."

"You know what else?"

"What?"

"I can't do this without you." his hand grasping her wrist slid down to Artemis' hand; his other hand joined to hold it firmly in place.

She stared at him a few silent moments, "Wow... that was the most sweetest, serious thing you've ever said to me. No, I mean second."

Wally raised an eyebrow, "Second?"

"Yeah," Artemis sat down next to his chair. Now, she was the one looking up, "You told me you loved me earlier. That trumps all." She kissed his hand.

"Wow... I need to do research with you more often- this is getting interesting."

She smacked his elbow. "Oh, please." She rolled her eyes. "Let's find your sister."

"Yeah."

Throughout the next few hours they researched, hacked, and all the while kept things fresh and interesting. There was a lot to be dug up on the Gargo Gang. Unfortunately, the dirt was rock hard. They did Find that most of the members were related. The boss was Grigor Gargo; he wasn't among the few in prison. The few that were wouldn't talk- except Phillippe Gargo (a nephew to Grigor). Around 1-o-clock in the morning- however- Artemis was practically drooling over the keyboard and Wally was burning a hole in the carpet (from pacing). He had long since given her the chair.

"AAAAAHHHHHRRRRRRGGG!" Wally pounded his fists on the desks, bringing Artemis to full wakefullness. "There's just some things you can't find on a computer! Which gang members are in prison?" He leaned toward the screen for a split second- and then he was gone.

"Wally?" Artemis glanced around futiley. "Wally!"

After changing into his suit, he rushed off to the police department. On his better judgement, he decided to change back into his plainclothes before going in. He stepped up to the front desk. "I need to talk to Phillippe Gargo."

"Philippe Gargo..." The man looked up the man's name. "Gargo, Gargo. Here we go. He was out on Parole... But he's gone missing."

"Who's his parole officer?"

"Err, Barry Allen.

Wally was shocked, but asked his next question, "Where was Gargo last seen?"

"Look, Kid, I dunno. Wa's it to you? Come back during the decent hours." the desk clerk slurred his words

"I don't have time for decent hours!" Wally shouted.

The next thing he knew he was thrown in a cell- for harrassing an officer. The gray walls, the bars... they all slowly faded to black.


End file.
